Drogheda United
- Drogheda United are winless in five (D3, L2), struggling to score and unable to convert draws into wins in recent fixtures.
- Drogheda are 8th in the table with 10 points from 10 games and need a win to move clear of the lower mid-table pack.
- Drogheda United are a defensive and compact unit who like to play direct and quickly in transition or from set-piece opportunities.
- Kevin Doherty’s pragmatic style makes them tough to break down, but a lack of cutting edge has been a real problem for them lately, resulting in three draws and two narrow defeats from their last five Premier Division fixtures.
- Mark Doyle is the most influential Drogheda player in terms of creating and playing the ball, while Thomas Oluwa adds pace and directness on the break.
St Patrick's Athletic
- St Patrick’s Athletic have won three, drawn one and lost one of their last five, thrashing Drogheda 4-1 in one of those matches.
- St Patrick’s Athletic are a possession-based, vertical-passing team that can play at pace when they need to under Stephen Kenny.
- The Dubliners operate with an aggressive counter-press and like to get bodies around the ball in midfield in order to overload opposition sides and control the game tempo.
- Kenny’s side sit 2nd in the Premier Division table after 11 games, 20 points on the board and a +9 goal difference and have been in the European places all season.
- Romal Palmer and Kian Leavy have added a bit of creativity and goals to the team from midfield in the last few games and Aidan Keena has been St Pat’s biggest contributor in all competitions this year, providing the link-up play and reliability from the penalty spot.
Head-to-Head
The Saints have also won 37 of the all-time head-to-heads to Drogheda’s 17 , including two 4-1 wins in the last six.
St Patrick's Athletic
- Romal Palmer and Kian Leavy have added a bit of creativity and goals to the team from midfield in the last few games.
- Aidan Keena has been St Pat’s biggest contributor in all competitions this year, providing the link-up play and reliability from the penalty spot.
Drogheda United
Mark Doyle is the most influential Drogheda player in terms of creating and playing the ball, while Thomas Oluwa adds pace and directness on the break.
Betting Insights
- Saints are strong favourites with the bookmakers at 1.9 to win on Friday, while Drogheda United are 4.2 and the draw 3.25.
- St Pat’s to win and under 2.5 goals at 1.62 makes plenty of sense given the difference in quality between these two sides and St. Pats’ recent dominance in this fixture.
Prediction
We don’t see this being a goal-fest, however, and the possibility of cool, damp conditions on Friday night could slow the pace of the football and make footing tricky for both sets of players.
